Autobiography

Autobiography
I never stood out for being a good language learner.

It never crossed my mind that I was going to be an English teacher. Initially, I never stood out for being a good language learner in school. When I was in eighth grade, I had a terrible teacher whose methodology was old-fashioned. We had to read out load stories and learn dialogues by heart. Besides, she always explained the verb “to be” and I never could understand its importance and how it worked from her class. That class was a nightmare, I hated the subject, and the teacher as well. I ended up failing the English subject, and I have no idea how I passed the remedial exam. In 10th grade, I met a teacher who loved teaching the foreign language, and her methodology was the opposite of my former teacher in 8th grade. From her, I became aware that I was good at the language, and aroused the willingness to keep learning in order to continue watching series and understanding some lyrics in English. Also, she motivated me to study English at a language institute. By studying English as a free will, I started loving learning the language and based on that idea I decided to enroll in the ELT program at Universidad Surcolombiana.

When we were asked about our initial motivation to enter the foreign language program, me and the majority of my classmates claim that we wanted to travel around the world, and worked as translators or interpreters. We were not reluctant to become teachers. We did not know that the program was mainly to become teachers. In other words, we just wanted to learn a foreign language in order to migrate. During the first two years, I took English courses that allowed me to learn and improve my language proficiency. Also, I took courses such as pedagogy and curriculum, but I did not take them seriously. However, when I took dipdi I, I understood that I had to teach if I concluded the program. In those dipdi courses, we were acquainted with the Second Language Learning Theories and Principles of Language Teaching, we observed and developed some microteaching practicums. By that time, I was reluctant to become a teacher. I had the opportunity to travel abroad, and from that experience, I knew that teaching was not my only choice.

In the seventh semester, I faced my first experience teaching in a public school, which was terrible at the beginning. Classroom management, students´ English level, lack of resources and students’ motivation was an issue for me when teaching to 6th and 9th graders. Students were used to learning the grammar of the language explicitly, so I confronted my understanding of learning and teaching a language with my cooperating teachers’ ideas about learning English. I was required to teach the grammar structures, so I tried to do it with different resources, such as songs, and games, but students misbehaved, and the class ended up in chaos. 

The second teaching practicum was easier for me given the fact that students were willing to learn, and I had had a previous teaching experience. I taught English to third graders in a public school. They did not have English teachers, but the homeroom teacher was in charge of teaching them vocabulary, even though they did not have an idea of the language and how to teach it. I implemented songs and language learning videos to change the class dynamic since they were used to sit down and write on their notebooks vocabulary and work on fill in the blanks exercises.

My cooperating teachers gave me an idea on how to achieve classroom management, and practicum supervisors’ support made these experiences more bearable, by following their pieces of advice. 

I would say that the Professor who taught English in the seventh semester changed my perspective about teaching as a profession. He cultivated in me the idea that teaching is more than imparting knowledge; it is about transforming our students’ realities in order to make an impact on society. Because of him, the teaching practicum was more manageable, and he became a role model for me. The construction of my teacher identity was the result of the process of learning to teach, social interactions with professors, students, cooperating teachers, practicum supervisors, and not so memorable teacher I had in school. Also, the social recognition of my competences as a teacher by the teacher community (while developing the teaching practicum) was paramount to understand my new role and imagine myself as a teacher.

Some teachers inspired me either positively or negatively by their professional commitment, teaching style or their relationship between teacher and student. Based on the above, my terrible English teacher in eighth grade allowed me to see who I do not want to be as a teacher. On the other hand, great teachers, such as the professor who taught English in the seventh semester, practicum supervisors, cooperating teachers, and my 10th-grade teacher in school, influenced and empowered the way I act and behave in my teaching and learning context.

Right now, I am teaching in a private school where students learn a subject through the medium of a foreign language, which is great because I do not need to focus on the grammar structure. However, I am “not allowed to use my first language” in the classroom or the school. Of course, I am not in agreement with that idea. Therefore I used Spanish and allow students to use it when it is needed.

As the construction of teacher identity is a process that has no start or end point, I am still figuring out my understanding of who I am as a teacher. The masters’ program has provided me with opportunities to actively imagine myself as a transformative teacher. However, I am experiencing some tensions in the place where I am working that do not allow me to empower my own teacher self.
María Angélica Gutiérrez S.